A big thank you to all my reviewers! I love you guys! You keep me writing
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Borne Up on Angel Wings
Chapter Five
Silence. Stillness. Yet eerily unpeaceful. The only sound was her own beating heart.
Shion opened her eyes, "Alright. I'm in."
The dive had been successful. She now stood in the E.S. hanger of the Ormus Stronghold. Her psyche had been completely projected into cyberspace. If no one had told her, she never would have known she had dived into the Encephalon. The illusion was too perfect for her to tell the difference between the U.M.N. and what was real, but then again, what is reality anyway than what the mind perceives through its senses? In an age of cyber-diving, U.M.N. Transfer columns, and personality corrective procedures, objective reality was vague at best, nonexistent most of the time.
"Right, I see you on my monitor." Myuki answered.
It was the weirdest feeling, and Shion still hadn't gotten used to it. In reality, Myuki stood only a few feet away from her, but in the Encephalon (where Shion's brain currently received stimuli) Myuki was nowhere. However, since Myuki was monitoring the dive, her voice echoed around inside Shion's mind, much like telepathy. It felt like a ghost was whispering in Shion's ear.
"I've uploaded a map of the stronghold right now. You're at the very entrance." Myuki continued, "I'm not sure which computers have the information we want, but I have a rough idea. I guess you're going to have to check all of them."
Shion groaned. Myuki's rough ideas were notoriously dangerous and ill-conceived. "Ok, but we have to be quick. I don't want to get my ass nailed for using the Terminal right after I practically groveled in the Director's office this morning just to keep my paycheck."
"Uhh–bitch, bitch, bitch. You worry too much. Now give me a second, if you don't want me to lead you to a bathroom or something." There was a pause as Myuki apparently accessed information on her computer. "Ok..." she said after a while, "you should go left."
Shion walked into the stronghold's central room and turned left.
"No, no! Not your left, Shion, my left!"
Shion stifled a curse, "Which is your left, Myuki? I can't see you!"
"Oops, right. Shift right a little bit. No, a little more...a little more. OK stop! There. Now go straight until you see that glowing red thingy, then turn right...I mean left! Your left."
Shion sighed deeply. This was going to be a long dive.
—
By some stroke of sheer luck, Myuki managed to lead Shion to the first computer suspected of containing information on Aeons...without too many detours.
'This is weird.' Shion thought. She'd been traveling these hallways only four days ago, and she had seen the stronghold implode on itself and crumble in front of her very eyes. Now it stood before her unharmed and menacing as ever. She remembered this hallway in particular: dark and spooky with red and purple neon strips that lined the walls. She'd run frantically down this hall with chaos, searching for a staircase. Was that only four days ago? Her experience in the stronghold with him had sparked the beginning of...something. She wasn't quite sure what. It was still hard to distinguish genuine feeling from lustful desire.
"Ok, I'm going to check this one out." Shion called to Myuki as she accessed the Ormus's computer database.
Nothing. Shion's shoulders slumped. There was nothing remotely related to Aeons or the Zohar on the screen in front of her. The only information of any importance on the computer's database was a list of the personnel, A.M.W.S., and weaponry on the Ormus Stronghold. Not much help now, since the actual stronghold's molecules were being torn apart somewhere in the bowels of a black hole.
"Nope. Nothing here." Shion sighed, and she was about to walk away when a disk popped out of the computer's hard drive. "What's this?" She asked.
"Sorry," she heard Myuki say, "I just interfered with the dive. I inserted a virus into that computer so that it would barf up anything hidden in it by a password or an override code."
This was convenient. How handy that Myuki was using her computer software engineering skills to hack into an enemy database.
Shion picked up the disk that the computer had "barfed up." It was marked Robot Arm 1. She scrunched her eyebrows, "I don't know Myuki. This doesn't seem to be what we're looking for..."
"So what? Take it anyway. It can't hurt. That disk might hold some other info on Ormus that could help us. Aren't they like you're number one enemy right now?"
Good point. Shion pocketed the disk and headed for the next computer.
"How many of the Ormus's computers are in your rough idea, Myu–AH!" Shion's sentence was cut short by the ear-splitting sound of bullets ripping from an A.M.W.S. gun. The wall to her right crumbled, and an assault mech smashed its way into the hallway, blocking Shion's path. It aimed its weapons at her, guns blazing. She ducked, hitting the floor and rolling away from the stream of bullets tearing holes in the ground beside her. This mech was nasty. It had burst through the wall and attacked her head-on. Stupid element of surprise...
"Gah," she grunted and flipped onto her stomach, not daring to get up to her feet for fear of turning into Swiss cheese. She thrust her left arm out in front of her (the one holding the M.W.S.) and fired three quick surges of electricity. The A.M.W.S staggered. Shion scrambled to her feet and flattened her body against the still-intact left wall as best she could to avoid enemy fire.
'This is rather problematic.' She told herself. The A.M.W.S. was so large it blocked off the other end of the hallway completely. She had nowhere to hide. Shion was trapped in a long, narrow tunnel in perfect range of the mech's cannons. Stupid hallway. She had no space. Then again, maybe she could use her environment to her advantage. It would require a substantial amount of pride-swallowing, though.
"AAAHHH!" She screamed and left the wall, sprinting directly towards the A.M.W.S in true kamikaze style, firing electric blasts from her weapon in erratic bursts. The mech seemed startled by her sudden frontal attack, most sane people wouldn't attempt to charge an assault weapons system on foot. A bullet whizzed by so close to her ear she thought she heard it say "I'm going to kill you! You're going to die!"
The A.M.W.S fired. She leapt. Bullets ripped through the ground beneath her. She landed on her feet a few inches from the assault mech's massive legs and squatted down in an unflattering position as more ammo blazed over her head. Then, using the momentum she gained from her jump, she thrust herself forward, straightening her legs and sailing in between the mech's feet. She fired an electro blast at the A.M.W.S.'s groin just for fun.
Landing with a thud on her stomach on the other side of the mech, Shion jumped to her feet and spun around, M.W.S. at the ready.
"Neener, neener, neener!" She cried happily, now facing the A.M.W.S's backside. The giant mech's movement was severely restricted in the tight hallway, and much to Shion's excitement, it couldn't turn around to face her.
"Spell Ray!"
A blue laser erupted from her weapon and collided in a shower of sparks with the mech's mid-section. Pointing her M.W.S. upwards in a sweeping arc, she tore a gash from the A.M.W.S's heart to its head, vaporizing the pilot within. The mech collapsed in a heap of burnt steal.
"Heh, heh," Shion smirked, "so predictable." She blew the smoke off her weapon, "can't touch this!"
She hadn't realized Myuki had been screaming at her throughout the entire battle:
"–my God! Shion, I'm pulling you out of the Encephalon right now! This is way too dangerous!"
"Huh? Hey, wait, no, no, no! Are you crazy? I'm fine, Myuki. I just wasted this A.M.W.S. See?" She pointed at the steaming pile of rubble in front of her, not that it was hard to miss...
"Oh." Myuki was quiet for a while, "it's just, I always see you sitting at your desk doing Chief Engineer-y stuff. I never saw you fight like that before. I mean, this is nothing like the test dives you did with KOS-MOS."
"Yeah, well. I've had some practice. Don't worry about me. I can hold my own. You just do the computer hacking and I'll be out of here in no time–if you lead me in the right direction!"
Myuki reluctantly agreed, and directed her to a room filled to the ceiling with storage boxes. A small, plasma screen was plastered to the wall at the far end of the room.
"Hmm," Shion walked over to the monitor and attempted to upload the computer's database.
Access denied. Password required.
Figures. "Myuki," she called out. It was strange, how she had to shout out to seemingly nobody but Myuki could still hear her in real space, "I'm having some access problems..."
"Er–I know, but there seems to be a...complication. The system seems old...really old. I don't know if I can hack into it!"
Fair enough. Shion would have to resort to a sophisticated and very delicate technique used only by the most skillful Vector engineers:
She wacked the screen with her fist. Hard.
Access granted.
Works every time. She quickly screened the database for anything Aeon-related. Nothing. She did the same for Christianity and the Zohar. Still nothing.
"Myuki, there's nothing here either." She grumbled. Out of simple curiosity, she searched for Abel's Arc. To her surprise, a small article came up:
...a Gnosis of epic proportions that ingested Lost Jerusalem's Solar System over 4000 years ago. Since Lost Jerusalem's disappearance, no records or sightings of Abel's Arc have occurred for four millennia. The reason for the consumption of Lost Jerusalem is still unknown.
We are on the verge of revealing the location of Abel's Arc soon, however. The activities transpiring in Vector Industries of late are of an incomprehensible importance. Once she identification restricted awakens, the path to Lost Jerusalem will be revealed, and visa versa...
Shion's suspicion was confirmed. KOS-MOS was definitely an Aeon. She still didn't know what KOS-MOS's "awakening" meant, or when and how she would "conquer Lucifer's evil," as Nephilim's prophesy predicted, or why the fact that KOS-MOS was an Aeon held any sort of importance. Although this little blurb of information helped clarify a few things, it contained nothing that Shion didn't already know. However, it troubled her that Ormus knew about the KOS-MOS project—a project that was classified to the utmost degree up until a few weeks ago. Either Ormus had hacked into First Division files (doubtful, not even the Federation had access to that database; Wilhelm kept it restricted to Shion and few others) or someone in Vector had leaked information. Shion's mind flashed on Harold. She shuddered.
"Alright, Shion. I've uploaded all relevant information to our communicators. We can move on now." Myuki attacked the Ormus computer with a virus again, and it ejected another disk. This one was marked Robot Arm 2.
"Myuki, what are these disks?" Shion asked as she stowed it safely in her pocket with the first one.
"I can't really analyze them well until I have them in front of me, but they seem to be a blueprint of some sort. I'm going to use my intelligent engineer brain and hypothesize they're blueprints for a robot!" Myuki exclaimed excitedly.
"Good guess." Shion rolled her eyes, annoyed, "where to next? We're not getting very far here. Are you sure Ormus has information on Aeons?"
"I'm positive Shion! I've done my research you know, they definitely have some beef with an Aeon and the Zohar. Have I ever been wrong before?"
"Um..."
"Don't answer! The next computer is on the western wing of the stronghold, just go through that door–yeah, that's the one. I assure you there'll be some useful info there. If not I'm pulling you out, because I'm worried about your safety."
"Who worries too much now..." She grumbled, but proceeded to the western wing anyway.
Shion reached the large doorway that Myuki indicated and pressed a panel beside it. The door whizzed open. She peered through the opening, then shut the door immediately.
"Myuki," she hissed, "they're like ten A.M.W.S. units in there! Can you get your intelligent engineer brain to negotiate another route? Please!"
A pause, then, "Um, no, I don't think so. Listen, this is stupid, Shion. I'm going to cancel the connection. I'd never live it down if you got hurt in there on my account–"
"No!" Shion yelled, "don't pull me out of the Encephalon! All the answers I'm looking for could be just beyond those mechs. If I have to trash them all to get there, then so be it. Do NOT sever the connection unless I'm in mortal danger, alright?"
"But–"
"I'm your chief, Myuki, and I just gave you an order! Do not pull me out unless the situation is dire. Is that clear?"
"...yeah."
"Good. Now stop yelling at me because I can't hear myself think. I have some metallic ass to shred."
She took a deep breath and opened the door again. She stepped through. There they were; ten A.M.W.S. units lumbering around what appeared to be the stronghold's weapons hanger. The bigger room gave her more places to hide from enemy fire, but it also allowed the mechs more movement.
What was it that Jin had told her was the first thing one did when entering a battle where the odds were against one's favor? Oh yeah, observe your surroundings: she was standing in a fairly large weapons hangar, mostly filled with storage boxes, and with a few A.M.W.S. cannons hanging on the wall opposite her. It would have been nice if she could get her hands on one of those massive cannons and blast the enemy A.M.W.S. into nothingness, but by the time she crossed the hangar, clambered up the wall, hoisted the cannon off its grappling hooks, and figured out how to operate it, the A.M.W.S. would have already killed her in a hundred different ways.
She clenched her teeth nervously. She knew what she couldn't do: stand in the doorway forever and wait for one of the A.M.W.S to notice her. Her eyes darted around the room. Boxes, boxes, just endless mountains of boxes. Last time she checked a box didn't seem to be a very effective weapon. She was about to give up and leave the room when the door closed in her face, locking her in.
'...crap. Now I'm trapped.' She spun around to face the A.M.W.S.. They were still oblivious to her presence. How long would her luck hold out? She began inching around the perimeter of the room, her back pressed up against the wall. Maybe she could tip-toe around the room quietly and none of the mechs would notice her...yeah, and then maybe purple monkeys would fly out of her butt and start dancing the polka.
"Ow!" Shion muffled a cry of pain as her head banged against something affixed to the wall. She looked at the offending object and found it to be a pipe that ran up the length of the wall, curved once it hit the ceiling, and then continued over to the western end of the room. Hmm...she always had been a good rope climber...
She grabbed the pipe firmly and kicked herself up, climbing with less grace then she would have hoped to the top of the room. At first she thought she could inch her way across the ceiling, but realized to her dismay that the pipe became very flimsy once it curved, and it would never be able to hold her weight. Hanging onto the pipe like a mountain climber, she looked down at the lumbering A.M.W.S. One of them was heading dangerously close to her. All its pilot had to do was look up and then it was bye-bye Shion.
She forced herself up the pipe as far as she could go, then an idea struck her. At her current vantage point (about twenty-five feet above the floor), she had a clear shot at each of the A.M.W.S.'s heads. It was common knowledge that a mech's head was its "weak spot," meaning its mainframe and weapons computer were stored there, since the head was small compared to the rest of its body and terribly hard to hit...from the ground. A shot of electricity to the head would disable the A.M.W.S. completely.
Shion looked at her M.W.S. Her aim would have to be impeccable, though, and she'd have to be faster than lightning. If one of the other A.M.W.S. noticed Shion blasting the brains out of its friends, he would surely splatter her body against the wall. She needed to disable ten A.M.W.S. almost instantaneously, without them noticing.
Shion inhaled a shaky breath and aimed her M.W.S. at the closest mech (a considerably difficult feat, since she was practically hanging on to the pipe with her knees). No good, her arm was shaking terribly. Maybe this was a stupid idea, perhaps she should just call the whole thing off and ask Myuki to pull her out. Not all the Aeon information in the cosmos was worth her life.
"Myuki," she whispered, "this isn't working, I'm too nervous, I–" She stopped. A memory had just forced itself to the front of her mind: the first time she cast Dual Spell Ray with chaos. She remembered her initial nervousness, her fear, the consequence if her aim failed...then she remembered the warmth...feeling chaos's body behind her, his right arm around her waist in a gentle grip, his left arm over her own...
"Don't worry, I've got you." He had said, and just like that, her fear evaporated. He had soothed her apprehension, infused her with strength,.
She imagined him hanging on the pipe there with her. His demeanor would be calm as usual, and his face would be serious, but then he'd brush his platinum locks away from his forehead and reveal his eyes, which were always smiling. And her heart would flutter...
"–you know what? Never mind."
Her arm stiffened, reinvigorated with steely resolve, "I know you've got me." She whispered, "just don't let go." She took another deep breath and fired the most rapid succession of charges she would ever fire in her entire life.
One, two, three, the A.M.W.S. units closest to Shion teetered and slumped as electric blasts exploded against their faces. Four, five, six, Shion's trigger finger was a blur; she was amazed at the precision of her aim, the mechs never saw her attacks coming. Seven, eight, nine, more surges collided into the A.M.W.S.'s heads. Now they began to notice though–too bad the pilots realized where the charges were coming from only after their mechs had been disabled.
One more. The last A.M.W.S. spun around with frightful agility. It spotted her. She fired an electro blast. The A.M.W.S. fired an Ether bomb. Shion's projectile shot across the room and met its target, sizzling in a shower of sparks. Too late! The mech's bomb left its gun turret and hurdled towards Shion a split second before her attack disabled it.
She screamed as the glowing bomb filled her vision and instinctively let go of the pipe. The wall behind her exploded and she felt the heat of fire billowing out behind her as she fell from the ceiling and crashed into a pile of storage boxes. Burning embers soared over her head.
She crouched under a box and waited in terror for the dull explosion of a bomb, for a barrage of bullets, for the searing pain of laser fire, but nothing came. She clambered out of the box and peered over its edge. Ten A.M.W.S. had toppled to the ground, electricity surging through their bodies. She had disabled all of them.
"Holy shit..." She murmured, and cursed aloud for the first time in two years. If someone had walked up to her a few months ago and told her 'Miss Uzuki, four months from now you will be hanging from a pipe in an evil organization's stronghold sniping at ten of the most powerful assault weapons ever created,' she probably would have signed that person up for an insane asylum. She began jumping around ecstatically, doing her private victory dance. She couldn't believe it. She just trashed ten assault mechs!
Her joy was short-lived however, as she spotted ten testosterone-filled pilots in sleek red and black Ormus uniforms clamber angrily out of their disabled A.M.W.S. and began marching ominously towards Shion.
She gasped, exasperated. Of course, she'd rather fight ten angry men over ten A.M.W.S. units any day, but still. She did noticed none of them were armed though. They planned to have a fist-fight. Apparently stupidity ran rampant among Ormus's soldiers.
"I wouldn't come any closer if I were you." Shion called out. It felt so weird talking to people inside the Encephalon. They were virtual entities, and for all intents and purposes completely human, but they weren't real–just bits of data stored in the E.S. Asher's mainframe. Real or not, they paid no attention to Shion's threats.
"I'm a skilled martial artist." She warned, "I've registered my hands as killer weapons with the Federation and I just single-handedly disabled ten A.M.W.S.. I suggest you don't cross me."
No luck. They continued to advance, attempting to surround her. She sighed. At least they couldn't say she didn't warn them...
One of the bolder pilots lunged directly towards her. She jumped back, allowing him to teeter from his own momentum, and scissor kicked him swiftly in the groin. He doubled over in pain, and she elbowed him hard in the face. He collapsed. This one wasn't getting up again.
Two more pilots attacked her. She ducked, letting them comically smash into each other, then thrust both her arms up in a double uppercut, again going for their groins. Both pilots doubled over in agony. She punched one of them in the face. Flop, he hit the ground. She spun around and kicked upwards; the heel of her shoe shattered the second pilot's teeth. Flop, he also collapsed.
Without waiting to be attacked again, Shion hoisted herself up onto a box and pin-wheeled on her arms with her legs extended, her feet forming a wide arc and colliding with three of the other pilots' faces–one after the other. Flop, flop, flop.
In the heat of fist-to-fist battle, Shion almost forgot she had an M.W.S. with her. She jumped off the box and raised her weapon as three more pilots attempted to jump her (were they mentally challenged?) She grinned almost evilly.
"Lunar Blade!"
A silvery beam sword erupted from her weapon. She held it out in front of her and spun around on her heel, slashing through three unlucky pilots. She watched in disgusted horror as their upper bodies snapped from their legs.
"Ugh," she groaned. At least she wouldn't feel guilty, seeing as they weren't real people.
One pilot remained. He didn't seem to notice his companions bleeding and dismembered at Shion's feet. She didn't even bother to warn him. She'd had enough–this was her most intensive Encephalon Dive ever. She swung her sword with more force than she intended, and decapitated the last pilot.
She staggered back a bit and blinked, perplexed. She looked at the ten either dead or unconscious pilots at her feet, then she lifted her gaze and saw the ten disabled A.M.W.S. units. Two of them had caught fire. Was it possible? Had she just caused all that mayhem? By herself!
"Oh...my...GOD!" She squealed, jumping around. She couldn't believe it. "Myuki, you've been awfully quiet for a while. What gives?"
There was a long pause, "I-I'm in complete and total shock. What the heck happened to you? You were quivering like a mouse when you walked into that hangar, and then you turned into this pipe climbing, charge firing, ball smashing, sword swinging demon lady that tore everything and everybody to shreds! You're unbelievable! How did you do it?"
Shion blushed uncontrollably, running a hand through her hair, "Well, Jin has been training me in martial arts since I was five, but, you know. This is going to sound terribly corny, but I thought of chaos, and he literally gave me strength. It's like I discovered this untapped power inside of me, and I wasn't afraid anymore. Pissed as hell maybe, but not afraid."
In the Dammerung's Encephalon Dive Terminal, Myuki raised her eyebrows, "Chaos? So that's his name. I bet you save that kind of power for him when the two of you are in bed–"
"Get your mind out of the gutter!" Shion fumed, "you didn't happen to record my magnificent ass whooping, did you?"
"Actually, everything that happens on this dive is stored directly to our communicators... Oh my God, we could show this footage to Harold, he'd soil his shorts!"
"That's a good idea. I thought about showing it to Jin the next time he rags on my ass for not being athletic."
"Yeah, well. Let's just get you out of there first. Do you think you can go to the western wing now? Or were you thinking of ripping up an E.S. limb by limb?"
"I'm going, I'm going." She grumbled, stepping over the bloody remains of one of the pilots, "just remind my subordinates at First Division to give me my due respect, especially during my special time of month..."
—
"I'm telling you Myuki, if this computer doesn't have the information we're looking for–after all I've been through–I'm making you write my reports for a month!" Shion scowled once she finally reached a monitor in the stronghold's western wing. To her surprise, she stood in the same room where she, KOS-MOS, and chaos had fought the fire-breathing, dragon-like Gnosis not so long ago. She was pleased the room wasn't about to collapse.
She loaded the suspect computer's archives onto the plasma screen in front of her, and something immediately caught her attention:
...Panspermia, the theory which claims that life originated in space rather than on the planets. Panspermia states life is "seeded" into a planet through physical means. For example, this phenomenon would occur if a meteor infested with bacteria and other single-celled organisms were to crash into a planet where the conditions for life are favorable e.g. water, atmospheric oxygen, mild temperatures; allowing those bacteria to breed, and thus sparking life on that planet, which, in a sense, would make the new inhabitants aliens, since their origins lie elsewhere.
During the Ancient Times of Lost Jerusalem, in the earliest stages of scientific inquiry, Panspermia was one of many theories used to explain the origins of life (others being various religions that claimed that life was "created" by one or more gods .)
After further investigations, it has become widely accepted that life on Lost Jerusalem did indeed occur through Panspermia, but not by means of a meteor; instead, through the Zohar. Highly classified information recorded in the era shortly before mankind left Lost Jerusalem shows that an "alien energy source" undoubtedly the original Zohar was found buried in the depths of Lake Turkana located on the northern tip of Kenya, a country in Lost Jerusalem's continent of Africa. Incidentally, discoveries of the very first humanoid fossils were also found on that very lake's shores, providing irrefutable evidence that the first humans walked the earth in shockingly close proximity to the Zohar. The theory, which is now known to be true, is that the Zohar somehow gave birth to life on Lost Jerusalem, culminating in the creation of man. In short, all of humankind owes its existence to the Zohar.
The events that transpired after the discovery of the Zohar in Lake Turkana remain shrouded in mystery, and lost in time. Whoever it was that excavated the original Zohar from Lake Turkana failed to discover how the Zohar seeded Lost Jerusalem with life.
To this day, it is still unknown why mankind chose to flee Lost Jerusalem, and the planet's location in the universe is also unclear, although our master identification restricted is more than certain that the long string of experiments conducted by the late Joachim Mizrahi have shed light on the mysteries of the Zohar and on the location of Abel's Arc. It is strongly believed that the CEO of Vector Industries also knows more than is safe for us to remain complacent...
Shion's mind reeled. She gripped a chair in front of her and slid into it, her eyes and mouth wide open in amazement.
"Myuki, are you getting all of this?"
"Y-yeah. It's...shocking, to say the least. It looks like Ormus has been digging deeper for answers than all of the Federation's and Vector's efforts combined. Keep going, milk this computer for all it's got. I have a feeling we're stumbling onto something earthshattering."
"No kidding..." Shion mumbled. Tired of searching the database herself, she typed in the words "Aeon," "U-DO," and "Zohar," into the computer's search engine. The response she got was unexpected...
WARNING! You are entering a database of AAA Class encryption status. If you have stumbled to this site by accident, or if this warning popped up automatically, then walk away from your monitor immediately: the information you seek is highly classified and you are not ready for it or its ramifications...If you are one of our upper officers, please insert override code now. You will have a single, ten-second chance before the system automatically shuts down...
"Don't worry about that Shion, I'm hacking into the system right now...There, it should be done, all you have to do is access the link on your screen." Myuki's voice seemed strained with anticipation.
Shion stared at the glowing hyperlink on her plasma screen. "You are not ready"? What could Ormus be hiding that was so dangerous? Maybe it was best if she didn't look...
"Hello? Shion, did you pass out on me? Access the link!" Myuki screamed at her.
She looked at her screen, five seconds, four, three...she clicked the link and held her breath.
Welcome. Ormus's AAA Class encryption database is at your fingertips. You have requested information on the following: Aeons, U-DO, Zohar. Before continuing, a true definition of the Unus Mundus is required for a complete understanding of the answers this database will be providing you. Keep in mind: everything you know about the Unus Mundus is pathetically elementary.
UNUS MUNDUS: The Federation tells us it is an informational network that spans the cosmos. Not untrue, but it is like saying a planet is a sphere. In other words, the definition is lacking. The Unus Mundus (Latin for One World) is an infinite layer of reality that is completely made up of energy. Think of it as a boundless ocean constantly rippling with waves, in which all physical paradoxes are possible. For the purposes of this database, the Unus Mundus may also be referred to as the 'manifest absolute,' as the ancient Gnostic Christians called it (a.k.a God).
The Unus Mundus's energy waves link everything and anything in the universe, creating a cosmic web of connections: galaxy to galaxy, star to star, mind to mind. Therefore, if something happens to one part of the Unus Mundus, all its other components are affected. In humans, the Unus Mundus can be accessed through the innermost part of the unconscious domain religiously dubbed as the 'soul.' Since the beginning of time, humans have believed that after death, the unconscious domain (soul) returns to the manifest absolute (heaven) and is reunited with everything. That is neither here nor there, however, regarding the goals of our organization.
AEON: An angel (according to Gnostic religion, a.k.a Seraphim). Traditionally thought to be a supernatural human that serves as a messenger/communicator/link between mankind and God, now is considered a being born in the purest, highest, and most sophisticated plane of the Unus Mundus. Aeons are gifted with extraordinary powers (far beyond the capabilities of Ether) most certainly due to their connection with the absolute manifest.
U-DO: (Unus Mundus Direct Operator) an evil, satanic force in the absolute manifest that corrupts all humans that come into contact with it. The extent to which it has poisoned the Unus Mundus is unknown. However, many cases of severe psychosis have been directly attributed to interaction with U-DO. Our intelligence speculates President Wilhelm of Vector Industries is supposedly spear-heading the creation of super-weapon that will eradicate U-DO.
ZOHAR: Highly restricted. Related topics: it is believed that Aeons can interact with the Zohar and bring about incomprehensible phenomena... Our goal, regarding one Aeon in particular–
"Shion! Look out behind you!"
Myuki's voice echoed around in her brain, startling her. She turned to see a black figure out of the corner of her eye, lurking in the shadows. She bolted from her chair and cried out in pain as she felt a cold blade slash across her right arm–from her wrist to her elbow. She flinched. A sharp blow hit her painfully between her shoulder blades and she staggered to the floor. Rolling around onto her back, she came face-to-face with her attacker: another Ormus soldier. She jumped to her feet before the attacker's scythe could sink into the soft flesh of her stomach.
"Thermal Blast!"
A bright plume of fire billowed out of her M.W.S., incinerating the soldier. He disintegrated into ash at Shion's feet.
"Shion! Shion! Are you ok? Oh my God, didn't you see him coming!"
"No...no, I was too caught up in what I was reading. How stupid of me..." She grunted, cradling her injured arm, which was now splattering blood all over the computer's keyboard.
"Open Ether circuit..." Shion shut her eyes and focused her energy. She'd been rattled, more so by the facts she had just learned than by her attacker, "Medica." Her arm stopped bleeding and sowed itself up like a zipper.
"Damn it Shion! I told you to be careful!" Myuki cried.
"Don't worry. I'm fine. I'll be alright as long as I can heal myself–"
"Yeah, well it shouldn't have to come to that!" Shion could tell Myuki was scowling, "look, don't bother reading everything we access now. It's all stored on your communicator anyway. From now on, I hack into the computer, you access the system, and then we move on, clear?"
"But–"
"You will only stay at each computer long enough for me to upload everything to our communicators, got it?"
"Um, excuse me! I believe I'm your boss, Myuki. I don't think you have the right to give me orders–"
"Then I'm pulling you out of this dive RIGHT NOW!" She bellowed, "I'm doing this for your safety and because I'm worried about you, you dumb shmuck! There will be no more injuries on this dive as long as I'm monitoring it. If you get attacked again, I'll pull you out so fast you won't have time to blink, and you better hope I'm kidding."
Shion sighed, "Alright Myuki. You win. Just do that virus thing to the computer and I'll get the disks."
The computer ejected two disks from its hard drive: Robot Leg 1 and Robot Leg 2. Myuki's blueprint guess didn't seem to be too far from the truth.
—
"Ok Shion, there should be a lock-panel on the door in front of you. That's right. You need to input the key-code: 4015. Good, it should open now. Yup. This should be it, our last stop. There are two computers in here worth looking at, I'll tell you which ones they are in a minute..."
Shion entered a large, bright room filled with pink and indigo incandescent screens glowing from the walls and what appeared to be row after row computer monitors. She had the unsettling feeling of being inside a church, but the pews were replaced with computer terminals. She shuddered. If there were an award for creepiest, high-tech bad guy control center, this place would win the gold. Thankfully, the room was empty.
"Shion, you there? If you look to your right you'll see that all the computer terminals are numbered. We're looking for one marked D-0017."
"Got it." Shion mumbled and peered at the screen closest to her. A bright neon-pink panel flashed D-0012 beside it.
"I think I'm close!" She exclaimed happily and walked briskly to the next computer, checking the flashing panel: E-7364.
"Uh...Myuki? Problem! It seems Ormus technicians don't know how to count."
"Huh? Oh, no Shion, they're not numbered numerically. They're numbered by their U.M.N. CPU identification bar code."
"Their what?"
"Never mind. Just keep looking."
"You want me to search randomly? They're like fifty computers in here!"
"Well..."
Shion growled inwardly and began combing the room for her desired computer. She walked the room's perimeter once, twice, three times, "Myuki, the freaking monitor isn't here! Are you sure you have the right number?"
"Positive. Keep looking."
An embarrassing ten minutes later, Shion finally found the elusive monitor marked D-0017. In her defense, it had been lodged into a dark corner of the room, and it's panel wasn't even flashing. (It had probably been made difficult to find on purpose.)
"I found it, Myuki. I'm going to upload everything on its database."
"Good. Remember, don't bother reading everything. Just allow everything to upload and then continue onwards."
"Fine." She growled. With the new restrictions placed on her by Myuki, Shion managed only to skim over a few quick blurbs from the computer's database.
...path to Lost Jerusalem will be revealed once she awakens...
...must find this Aeon–the divine human–and use him to unleash the Zohar's power...
...His sacrifice will save mankind, and restore Order to the universe...
...once the Zohar's power is harnessed, combined with the appearance of Lost Jerusalem, we will be in the position to have complete and total control of the Unus Mundus! Humanity thus far has been able to use the U.M.N. for Faster Than Light communications and travel. That is merely scratching the surface. The U.M.N. opens portals to people's subconscious domains, to distant reaches of the cosmos, to parallel universes; the power gained from control of the manifest absolute will be greater than any human since the birth of man has ever imagined! Ormus will have achieved immortality...
..through control of the manifest absolute, we could exterminate the Gnosis forever...
"Earth to Shion!" Myuki cried out, "We're done uploading here! Would you mind taking that disk so we can move on?"
Shion blinked. She didn't have time to read everything that flashed across her screen, but she had seen enough to know now what Ormus's intentions were. She pocketed a disk marked Robot Body and searched the room for the final computer.
"Here it is." She told Myuki, amazed that she had found the computer so quickly despite the asinine numbering.
She accessed the computer and uploaded its files. Surprisingly, only one line of the computer's entire database was relevant to her search:
We must find him. His death will bring new life to us all.
Shion frowned. She needed a minute, hell, she needed days to ingest all this new information. Ormus was after someone–someone they wanted to kill–for the purposes of controlling the U.M.N., which, apparently, is now some sort of God-like, energized layer of reality. Ormus also wanted to find an Aeon, in order to use the Zohar...Could the Aeon be the person they wanted to kill? She had no idea. She had dived into the Encephalon searching for answers, but now she seemed to have more questions than when she started.
Something peculiar happened on the screen in front of her that caused her to cease thinking about Ormus for a moment. The computer in front of her vanished, leaving a gaping black hole in cyberspace.
"Er, Myuki, is the system shutting down?"
"Um...no, no I–oh shit!"
Shion gasped. The extent to which Myuki swore ended somewhere between "darn" and "poopy." Myuki was too refined, too bubbly, too happy-go-lucky to sink to that kind of language. Shion remembered Myuki saying "shit" before only once: two years ago when KOS-MOS malfunctioned and slaughtered her colleagues.
"What's going on?" Shion asked, slightly alarmed.
"I-I don't know how this happened! Somebody has intercepted your dive!"
Shion's mind flashed on Albedo, his eyes glowing violet. Cackling like an idiot. Her blood chilled.
"No," Myuki said, as if reading her mind, "it's not what you think. Whoever is tampering with your dive is from Vector. It's probably just an accidental Encephalon overlap, but it's still very dangerous."
"Well," Shion sighed, struggling to remain calm, "would you mind pulling me out right now? Before I get caught for using the Dive Terminal without the Director's permission?"
"I can't! Whoever is interfering with the Encephalon is blocking all dive pull-outs!" Myukis seemed to be straining not to appear alarmed.
"So...I'm stuck in cyberspace?"
"Well, I could sever the connection physically..."
"Right. Then my psyche would be trapped in the Encephalon and my real-life body would become an empty shell. That's also known as dying, Myuki. I would prefer we avoided that."
"I know, just calm down–" A static burst sizzled in Shion's mind.
"What? Myuki I can't here you!"
"–connection must be failing. Don't worry. If the interception is accidental, I can pull you out as soon as the anomaly is removed."
Shion huffed angrily and folded her arms. Although nothing serious was going on, she would still have to wait until this cyberspace intruder left her alone. Why was this interceptor blocking pull-outs anyway? She scanned her mind for the people who could have direct access to this Encephalon dive: certainly the Directors of all of Vector's divisions, the head of the U.M.N. Management Center on the Dammerung, and of course Vector's CEO, Vice President, and Chief Executive. None of those people were dangerous (to her knowledge), and Harold certainly didn't fit into any of those categories. Still, it bothered her that whoever it was had just trapped her in cyberspace and was attempting to terminate the connection between her and Myuki. She wished at least she could be stuck in a dive of a beautiful beach, instead of the dark and creepy Ormus Stronghold.
"So be it." Shion grumbled, "I can wait until the interceptor stops...er...intercepting..." She turned her head slightly and almost wet her pants. The most horrifying monster she had ever seen materialized out of the wall in front of her.
"...except the Encephalon is simulating Gnosis now!" Shion screamed, darting in a panic towards the other side of the room, "Myuki, you have to get me out of here! I-I don't even know if the Hilbert Effect is active in here!...Myuki?"
No answer.
"Myuki!"
The Gnosis lunged at her, swinging its massive arms and destroying computer terminals in its wake. Shion had seen this type of Gnosis before on Proto Merkhaba (since then she had tried to erase the memory.) It was a horrific creature, a pasty white demon with a distorted, gruesome face and a powerful, monstrous body. Ironically, it appeared freakishly angelic, with a halo above its head. Shion had forgotten its name but remembered that fighting it with KOS-MOS meant a long, tough, bloody battle. Fighting it alone would be...deadly.
"Ah!" She dodged the Gnosis before its fist could crack her skull. She realized in that moment how truly terrifying the Gnosis were. It was one thing fighting A.M.W.S. and angry men in Ormus suits. It was another fighting heartless Gnosis; they were demonic, relentless, and hostile beyond understanding.
Shion whipped around, M.W.S. in hand, and unleashed a volley of electrical charges at the monster. The Gnosis seemed to find her attacks amusing. It swiped at her with its gargantuan fist, claws extended. Her reflexes were too slow this time. The monster caught her squarely in the chest and sent her flying. She landed with a loud bang against the wall and slithered to the floor.
"Ah-I..." Her gaze dropped momentarily to her upper body. She gagged. Her uniform was caked with blood. She had an open wound somewhere...
"Gotta...fight...it..." She pulled herself off the ground but wavered and sank to her knees. She felt very strange all of a sudden...very drowsy. She doubled over and coughed up a wad of blood. She gasped, horrified—it was green! The Gnosis's claws were poisonous, and now venom was surging through her veins.
She struggled to get up, but her weapon felt incredibly heavy. Her vision fogged, and a paralyzing numbness spread from her limbs to her core as her body failed to deal with the toxins coursing through her. She collapsed entirely, sprawled on the ground with her face to the Gnosis.
"Why?" She pleaded, her vision completely blurry now. She saw the room spinning, and it seemed as if the monster were dancing around her. She groaned in pain and shifted position as she felt her own blood pool underneath her, making her uniform sopping wet. Her thoughts crumbled into an incoherent mess. Her eyes crossed.
"...not...fair..." She groaned. She felt no pain when the Gnosis slashed at her the second time.
—
"Shion? Shion!" Myuki screamed in vain at her monitor. The last thing she had heard before she lost contact with Shion was that Gnosis were in the Encephalon. What kind of a sick joke was the interceptor trying to pull?
Myuki stared in horror at Shion's motionless body in the dive chair. Since Shion's psyche in cyberspace was still connected to her body, everything that happened to her in the Encephalon was carried over into real space. Currently, she was bleeding...badly. Crimson rivulets of blood streamed down the dive chair and onto the shiny Terminal floor.
Myuki cried out in frustration. She had never felt so helpless before...well, actually she had, when KOS-MOS malfunctioned and killed all her colleagues right before her eyes. All Myuki could do was stare, terrified. The same was happening now. Shion was dying in the Encephalon, and there was nothing Myuki could do about it.
"I need to get help." She told herself, bolting out of the Terminal. Screw the wrath she would endure once the Director found out they were using the Dive Terminal without permission. This was an emergency. Shion's life was on the line.
She hurtled out onto the promenade and collided headlong into tall, slender boy.
"Oof! Get out of my way, I need...Oh my God! You-you're chaos right? Shion's friend?" Myuki gasped.
chaos nodded, looking confused. He seemed badly shaken up, but she hardly noticed.
"We-we need to get help! Shion! She's, I–"
chaos stared at Myuki. She looked utterly terrified, almost hysterical. He placed his hands on her shoulders and shook her gently, "Calm down! Tell me what happened."
"I–Shion dove into the Encephalon and her dive got intercepted!" Myuki almost screamed, " I can't pull her out–the connection is blocked–and now she's being attacked in cyberspace! She's wounded badly! I think–"
chaos's face turned an unhealthy, chalky white. As if he had anticipated something bad was going to happen to Shion.
"Where?" He asked, his voice grave.
"The Dive Terminal! Someone–"
"Take me there now."
She didn't bother questioning his motives. She was in too much of a panic to do that. Once Myuki led chaos into the dive terminal, Shion was still bleeding profusely, more so than before.
chaos gazed at Shion's blood-soaked body. Instead of horror, rage burned across his face.
"I'm diving in." He stated, walking towards Shion's motionless body nestled in the dive chair.
"What? Are you crazy? I can't pull you or Shion out as long as the interception persists–" "Then I will make sure the interception ceases. Time is short. I need you to monitor my dive and get me into the Encephalon immediately."
"But–you're not even armed! What could–" She paused. Something in his eyes made her stop talking. She saw something in them, a resolve that burned passionately. Something told her he would stop at nothing to get Shion out of the Encephalon alive.
She picked up a pair of dive goggles on the desk beside her and tossed them at him, "Fine," she ran to her computer, "I'll monitor your dive, but there's no telling if our connection will remain intact once you're in the Encephalon."
chaos nodded, donning the dive goggles, "I understand. I presume the connection will re-establish itself once I take care of..." His gaze fell to Shion's bleeding body. He sank to his knees behind the dive chair and wrapped his arms around her, "just...please. Hurry."
He didn't hear Myuki's response, since his psyche was already hurtling through cyberspace.
—
chaos was a speeding white blur. He bolted through the Ormus Stronghold like lightning, wings fully extended and fists glowing in a silvery aura. He soared over A.M.W.S units, pulverizing anything in his path: mechs, Gnosis, walls, humans. The expression on his face as he hurled through the stronghold seemed to be made of stone. He was furious. His enemy had gotten the best of him, despite all his efforts to protect her. The reality of it all slapped him hard in the face; soon he would feel helpless, pathetic, distraught, guilt-ridden, but not now. Now he only felt rage.
Pretend you have the freedom not to get involved.
That sanctimonious bastard! Toying with him–with her!–just to prove a point! chaos's fists came down hard on the wall in front of him, crippling the room's framework and sending white shockwaves throughout stronghold. The situation had to be remedied. He had to make amends instead of losing track of his priorities. Nothing was more important than her safety. He would insure it, no matter what the cost, no matter what the sacrifice.
He soared through the weapons hangar. Nobody had told him where she was, but he knew. He could feel it. He could feel her fighting for her life. She was losing. The flame was going to die...
"Ugh." He bashed another wall with his fists and shot through it like a glowing bullet. He came upon the Ormus computer center, and the macabre sight below him chilled him to the bone. The blood. The gore. The Gnosis was tearing through her...plunging its venomous claws into...How horrible!...
Shion groaned in agony, her vision made blurry by her own blood. Colors swam and melted into each other. She looked up at the heavens, praying for death, for release from this torture. Contact with the Gnosis was gruesome and horrifying. She'd had enough, she wanted out...
An angel. She blinked the stinging blood out of her eyes. An angel was floating high above her, the feathers from its wings fluttering down to her. A smile cracked across her green face, saturated with venom. A single feather spun slowly through the air and landed on the bridge of her nose. It felt wonderful, she longed to feel its texture between her fingers. It was the most beautiful feather she had ever seen. It seemed to be glowing with the power of the afterlife...Afterlife. She wanted death. Sweet release...
"ANGEL BLOW!"
She heard a voice amidst the sound of the Gnosis's gnashing teeth. The ground around her erupted into white light, and ethereal spears plunged themselves into the Gnosis's body. The monster exploded in a shower of bright sparks. A disk flew out of the Gnosis's vaporized body and landed with a sick smack on Shion's bloody stomach: Robot Head.
The angel sped towards her like a flash of lightning, and was on top of her before her foggy vision could adjust.
She had seen that face before. She knew this angel. Those eyes...
"chaos?..."
He pressed his hands to her chest and unleashed a surge of silvery energy. She felt a shockwave propagate through her body. Startling her. Awakening her. Snapping her into consciousness. She gasped, oxygen filling her lungs as blood receded from her mouth and nose. Warm, soothing waves of white light caressed her, clearing her vision, healing her wounds, restoring order to her thoughts, destroying the poison in her bloodstream. She felt the most incredible sensation of peace wash over her. All her pain was gone. This must be heaven...
"Come on!" She heard his voice dance on the edge of her mind. She focused her clearing vision on chaos's face. His emerald eyes, they were...crying? "Come back Shion! Come back!" He infused her body with more light, energy rippling from his fingertips.
He was right. She didn't want death. She didn't want release. Not yet. There was still too much left to do. The weakening venom was gone from her system now. She wanted to live.
"Ah!" A moan burst from her lips as she felt life tear its way back into her. Her thoughts exploded back into her mind. Clarity returned to her vision, and all her senses came rushing back to her.
She reached up and pulled chaos into an embrace. She ran her lips across his cheek and snaked her arms around his back. She could feel his wings. She exhaled happily and ran her hands through his feathers. They felt heavenly, more so then she could have ever imagined. She gingerly picked up the feather that had landed on her nose and pocketed it.
"Oh, chaos..." She breathed happily. The light that had healed her had done something to her. Air never tasted this good before. She wanted to hold him forever, feel his wings brush across her face, "thank you..."
She got up to her knees and felt chaos's face sink into her lap. He grabbed her waist and held her tightly, as if someone where trying to take her away from him. His body shook violently. She frowned. Something was terribly wrong. He was crying.
"chaos, what's the matter?" She put a hand to his cheek and felt tears stream through her fingers. She was confused. What was going on? She'd never seen him like this before. She'd never seen anyone like this before.
"Damn it!" He cried out.
If you carry on like this her blood will be on your hands...she will suffer greatly.
"He was right!" He sobbed angrily, pounding the ground with his fist, "that bastard was right..."
—
Shion would have felt incredibly relieved once Myuki finally pulled her and chaos out of the dive, but she was too confused and perplexed to feel much relief. chaos seemed very cold and distant all of a sudden. The events after the dive appeared to her very murky and unreal. She felt like she were walking through a strange, wavering dream as she followed him to the Dammerung's main terminus. Shuttles around her were departing at break-neck speed from the Dammerung's ports like fleeting hopes and dreams. chaos carried a very grim expression on his face.
"Shion. I feel there's something I must do. You're–you're too precious to me. I'm through with endangering you."
His words warmed her heart, but she felt an unsettling gravity in his voice that worried her. She felt like she was teetering on the edge of a high precipice.
"What do you mean?" She asked nervously.
"I can't stay here with you anymore. I have to leave."
"What!–"
"Please don't be upset." He bit his lip, "There are stronger forces at work that are bigger than the two of us. There are things you don't know..."
She stared at him, shocked, "You got that right! I don't know. I don't know anything! I have no idea what's going on because you never tell me anything! If you'd just open up to me instead of being mysterious and cold all the time–"
chaos hung his head, "it's not like that."
"What the hell is it like then?" She yelled, but realized he was crying softly.
"I know you've been left in the dark about certain things, but try to understand. It's for your safety. This isn't easy for me. I–I care too much for you."
Shion's gaze softened. She fought back tears. She grabbed his hand and held it, "chaos, I care for you too, m–more deeply than I thought. You're so important to me; I thought–"
He shook his head sadly and gently pulled his hand away. She felt the warmth of his fingers leave her. She didn't get it; her face flushed red angrily. She refused to accept what was happening.
chaos blinked. Tears fell from his cheeks, "Don't be mad, it's not what you think. At first I thought I was needed to protect you and the others, but now I've realized that I'd just be a hazard to your safety..."
Shion's mouth fell open. Her expression was confused, furious, dumbfounded, sorrowful, tear-stained, "So, so you're just going to walk out of my life now?" She whispered.
He winced as if she had just stabbed him. His gaze fell, and his platinum locks fell over his eyes, "Your journey, Shion, continue it. Keep your friends close. A lot of good will come out of it. I'm just not a part of it anymore."
She just stared at him for a moment as he turned to board the shuttle behind him. She meant to grab him, slap him, kiss him, do something to prevent his leaving, but as she stepped forward a shuttle technician (who had seemed to freakishly appear out of nowhere) grabbed her arm and held her back.
"Stand back please, Miss. This shuttle is departing."
"No!" She screamed, "Wait!"
The shuttle's thrusters flared to life with startling efficiency. She watched crestfallen as the spacecraft sped away from the port and out of the Dammerung. Her dream, her hope, had just left her. She felt as if a part of her had been ripped away.
—
"I don't get it. I just don't get it. It feels like the ground tore open beneath my feet. I've never felt so awful before..." Shion sniffled. She sat slumped on a bench with Myuki outside the First Division offices.
Myuki held her thunder stricken friend, "but, I mean, did you actually say 'I love you, don't go'?"
Shion looked at up Myuki, "no, obviously not. Damn, Myuki! Do you want him to stomp my heart into the ground completely? I'm hurting enough as it is!"
Myuki's shoulders sagged, "yeah. I guess so...but, I don't understand! He was genuinely worried about you when you were–uh–when you had that problem in the Encephalon. I mean, it was like you were the meaning of his existence..."
"Whatever," Shion ran a hand through her hair and shook her head dejectedly, "I don't understand either. I need time to think, I need time to...sort all this garbage out." She sighed, wiping her tears, "oh great, I have to brief the team in five minutes." She stared at her friend, "does it look like I'm ready to get up in front of a bunch of people and act composed...self-assured...not crestfallen beyond repair!" She scowled.
Myuki shrugged, "well, maybe you can postpone or something. I—hey, isn't that the Director?" She pointed to what appeared to be a very, very angry man storming out of the First Division offices. He marched up to the bench Shion and Myuki were sitting in.
"Good afternoon, Director." Shion managed to choke out, getting up from the bench.
"Have you lost your mind completely, or are you just stupid?" He scowled, "Illegal Encephalon diving using the First Division Terminal! What the hell were you thinking!"
"Director please, I–"
"Who gave you the right to use the Terminal to dive into the seedy stronghold of a criminal organization? With Gnosis simulation! Have you any idea how incredibly dangerous that is?"
Shion gazed at her blood-stained uniform, "yeah, I think I do–"
"I gave you the benefit of the doubt, Uzuki. I trusted your judgement. I never once dreamed that you would ever do something so stupid, and illegal! Have you any idea what will happen to my–I mean our reputation if this gets out!" He fumed, "I believed you to be clear-headed, intelligent, and responsible, Uzuki. I was wrong on all three counts."
"But–"
"AND! I discovered you failed to debug KOS-MOS's aggressive neural processor! Do you think it's safe to have a killer android running around with a possibly malfunctioning A.I.?"
"That debugging is a sham!" Both the Director and Shion blinked. Myuki had spoken up. She was on her feet and pointing a finger in her director's face, "you have no right to talk to Shion that way! You're not half the engineer that she–"
"I would stop talking right now, before you regret ever having joined the KOS-MOS development team." He snapped. Something in the Director's tone of voice made Myuki hold her tongue.
He turned his attention back to Shion, "Your irresponsible, illegal activities will not soil Vector's name. You've shown an appalling lack of good judgement–"
Shion finally flew off the handle, "Oh, be reasonable! Are you going to give me time to explain or are you going to continue inflating your ego with this power trip? Maybe my God-damn dive revealed some crucial information on KOS-MOS, information which you sir, refuse to reap for yourself because you were appointed to your position instead of working for it and choose to sit on your ass all day instead of–"
"Shion Uzuki, you're fired!"
She staggered back, shocked, "What!"
"I will not have the likes of you leading my division or heading KOS-MOS's development. You will have twenty-four hours to pack your belongs and leave the Dammerung." He whipped out Shion's last paycheck and shoved it into her shaking hands, "Goodbye, Uzuki. I used to think you were quite good." He smirked and left.
Myuki started to say something, but Shion couldn't hear her. She sank to her knees and held her head. This couldn't be happening. She refused to believe any of it. Her entire world had just crumbled before her. She could hardly process it. Fired! Vector was her career, her home, her life! She suddenly felt very sick, as if a part of her just died. This had to be a nightmare, or maybe she did die before, and this was Hell.
"My–my job..." she whispered, too shocked to cry. Her hopes, her dreams, her ambitions, all crushed to bits. The promises she had made to herself after Kevin's death...the oath she had made to her parents at their funeral that she would one day make a positive difference...all broken...all shattered. Her world was spinning out of control. It felt like she was falling...falling through an endless abyss, where dreams came to die...
Her communicator beeped. Once...twice...She picked it up and answered, completely dazed.
"Hello?"
The connection was horrible, and the voice on the other end came and went in static bursts, "Shion! It's Jr.–"
"Jr.! Oh my God, what's going on? Are you alright?" She miraculously found a hidden strength within her and got to her feet.
"Made it to Old Miltia—are terrible—badly wounded."
"What? Jr. I can't hear you! Did you find Feb's sisters?"
"...yeah, but–"
She gasped, fearing the worst, "Are they dead?"
"No, but they're...look, things are just, really, really bad. You have to get here right away!"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Gasp! Just how bad can things get? This story is heading dangerously for a sad and tragic ending! Before you despair though, know this: it has to get worse before it gets better.
Some copyright stuff: I did some research for the info on Panspermia, Aeons, and the Unus Mundus, but everything else in italics I pretty much pulled out of my ass. And oh yeah, Xenosaga isn't mine, blah, blah, blah...
Ok, one last thing: I love and thank all my reviewers, but I think Wends deserves some special recognition; it's not everyday one of my loyal readers (snigger don't laugh! That's what I like to call them!) dedicates her service to the Navy. Good luck and take care! And feel free to squee like a fangirl whenever you like, I think you've earned the right.
Anyhow, all my reviewers will be thanked in one form or another by the end of this story (what? I'm not trying to bribe you into reviewing my fic. What are you thinking?)
The next chapter will also have plenty of butt-whooping but not so much heart-breaking, world-crushing angst, since this one delivers plenty of that.
Share your thoughts, R/R!